HOLYOKE -- City planning officials issued a reminder that part of Canal Street will be closed on Saturday (Aug. 23) and possibly Sunday as the state makes improvements to the railroad crossing.

The work under the direction of the state Department of Transportation is to prepare forAmtrak's passenger rail system linking Connecticut and Vermont, with stops in Springfield , Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield, said Tessa Murphy-Romboletti, development specialist with the city Department of Planning and Economic Development.

The city is informing manufacturers so they can notify employees and plan for scheduled deliveries, she said.

Businesses should have the ability to use the Route 116 bridge and circle back south through South Hadley and Chicopee if deliveries are imperative that weekend, she said.

But, she said, some alternate routes may be limited for trucks due to low clearance on railroad overpasses.

"This temporary closure will result in no access to a section of Canal Street and points north from Cabot Street," Murphy-Romboletti said.

The exact time when the construction will be done on Aug. 23 and possible Aug. 24 was unclear, she said.

"Our understanding is that they will be doing the work throughout the entire day on Saturday, with potential for Sunday morning as well. We want everyone to be prepared for construction on both days, just in case," she said.

In related business, construction is scheduled to be done in December of a 400-foot-long concrete platform with a roofed waiting area at Dwight and Main streets -- near the north-south tracks owned by Pan Am Railways -- where passengers will take and depart from trains headed to New York City Vermont and other destinations, officials said.

The platform is part of the $17 million the state plans to spend on train tracks between Springfield and Vermont.